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Nikaea
Nikaea is the homeworld of the Nikaean race and the capital of the Empire of Nikaea. Underwood's Notes: Origins The Nikaeans and their homeworld were created in 2007 as a servant-race of the Gorak'nar, but were not given form until the release of SPORE - the creature/civilization creator created by Will Wright and published by EA Maxis - in 2008. The name of their planet was taken from the lore of the Imperium from Warhammer 40,000. In that medium, Nikaea was the site of a conclave called by the Emperor of Mankind to discuss (and eventually ban) the rampant use of sorcery in the Imperium. The idea of the Council of Nikaea was itself taken from history - the First and Second Councils of Nicaea were ecumenical conclaves called in the city of Nicaea (modern-day İznik, Turkey), bringing the various sects of Christianity together to discuss the forms of worship. The appearance of the Nikaeans themselves came to mind right off the bat, but are partly inspired by the Ssi-ruuk of the Star Wars Expanded Universe - also bipedal reptilians, some of whom had blue scales. General Info Nikaea is the second planet of the star Prora, located just beyond what is now Gorak'nar space in the Beta Quadrant to the galactic north of the Reydovan Empire. A ringed planet similar to Reydovan Prime, Nikaea is set approximately 165,000,000 miles from Prora and has one moon, Issenni, the system's primary energy-production facility. Nikaea's two continents have a climate roughly similar to Earth regions of the far north - Alaska, Siberia and Scandinavia, to name a few. The climate is especially unforgiving to the Nikaeans - a race of cold-blooded bipedal reptilians. Nikaea's day is roughly 29 hours, and its year is 421 days. It generally only has two seasons, which the Nikaeans call the Time of Death and the Time of Rebirth. The planet undergoes what could be considered a mini-ice age in the Time of Death, with temperatures going as low as -114 degrees Fahrenheit; it was said by the Nainyan privateer Koschei, the first alien outside of the Gorak'nar to set foot on Nikaea, that the cold could freeze an unwary man solid and the wind could rip him apart like a predator rips into its meat. This mini-ice age affects nearly 70% of the planet, though its effects seem to be tempered on the coasts. During the Time of Rebirth, the high temperature is around 45 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Habitation Despite the unforgiving nature of its climate (in regards to their cold blood and their world's distance from the sun), the Nikaeans have thrived on the planet of their birth for millions of years, reaching a population of around seventeen billion by 2380. The ten tribes that remained after their unity against Gorak'nar oppression built ten self-contained cities for themselves, using left-over Gorak'nar technology to create abodes carefully climate-controlled for a Nikaean's comfort - around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and 100% humidity. After the invasion of the Black Shar'vore in 2380, nearly 99% of their population was wiped out by the enthralled and vengeful Gorak'nar, who sought to avenge their humiliation by wiping out their species. However, those that survived this great holocaust carried on rebuilding their lives and their world after their deprevations. They eventually united with two other races, the Khyradorians and the Sergorath, in their effort to restore their homeworld. Government Nikaea's capital is known as Nikaeapolis in English, a term adopted by the Nikaeans themselves eventually. Their formal name for it is Kohram-sek Kerazaddon, roughly translated as "birthplace of Kerazaddon", but to the Nikaeans it has a deeper meaning: "The place where the Ancients gave us Kerazaddon". Kerazaddon the Uniter was a chieftain of the Spiritclaw tribe that had inhabited the city (whose original name was Sehlenkkam, literally "Spiritclaw") since its inception. When Nikaea was conquered by the Gorak'nar, it became Gorak'gaenei, "City of the Scions' Destiny". Kerazaddon was born three hundred years before the end of the Gorak'nar occupation, and when he united the tribes to become its first High Patriarch, the city was named for him. It was first christened "Nikaeapolis" by August von Spee, the first mate of the privateer captain Koschei, and the name stuck. After the tribes united, they chose from among their chieftains one who would be the overlord, what they called the Melekh-cha, or "High Patriarch". Kerazaddon was named the first, and remained so until his assassination during the Gorak'nar invasion in 2380. His successor is Smeavian the Liberator, who was also chieftain of the Spiritclaw. Smeavian reunited the shattered populace and paved the way for the creation of the Nikaean Empire. Religion in the Government Each city on Nikaea, even before the planet was united under the rule of Kerazaddon, had a structure known as the Temple of the Eternal Watcher built within its boundaries. The Eternal Watcher is a Nikaean deity who is believed to guide the spirits of the Nikaean people in the afterlife, and is said to be one of the Shar'vore - the near-immortal beings known as the "Ancients" to many space-faring races, including the Gorak'nar. The greatest Temple, and thus the seat of power, is located in Nikaeapolis. When the tribes combined under the rule of Kerazaddon, the worship of the Eternal Watcher became the state religion under the High Patriarchy. History Nikaea was formed approximately 5.7 billion years ago; the Nikaeans evolved over that span of time despite the unforgiving and - some would say - incompatable nature of their homeworld. The tribes were formed approximately 9400 BC. In the beginning, there were as many as 1,000 separate tribes living on Nikaea's surface, some with as few as two or three individuals, some with as many as ten thousand. By 6900 BC, there were around thirty tribes numbering in the tens of thousands living on their surface. The Arrival of the Gorak'nar In 6890 BC, the Gorak'nar Imperium made its presence known in the lives of the Nikaeans. Rather than make contact with them and speak peacably, the Gorak'nar conquered Nikaea through force of arms, then continued branching out throughout the galaxy. The Nikaeans, seeing this reckless "manifest destiny", called the Gorak'nar Kahlamakh, which in their language meant "expander" and was also used in the plural sense...and most often as a curse against the Gorak'nar. The Gorak'nar chose the largest tribal city on the planet, the city of Sehlenkkam, and made it the capital of their "colony" on Nikaea. For nearly five thousand years, the Nikaean people lived in the service of the Gorak'nar, the unseen hand behind the Expanders' grand achievements. Those tribes that resisted - usually alone - were killed en masse. Kerazaddon's Grand Coup When he became chieftain of the Spiritclaw in 2071 BC, Kerazaddon became incensed by these beings taking from his people and treating them like inferiors, killing those who would not submit. In what became known as the Opening of Nikaea's Eyes, Kerazaddon called a conclave of the remaining ten tribes and convinced them that in order to free themselves from Gorak'nar oppression, they must act. Kerazaddon's plan was to take the best and brightest from the tribes to build war machines with pilfered Gorak'nar technology, overrun the Gorak'nar citadel in Sehlenkkam/Gorak'gaenei and assassinate Battlelord Zakahril, the leader of the Gorak'nar military who declared himself "Grand Steward of Gorak'gaenei". Like Reinhard Heydrich during the Nazi occupation of Prague thousands of years later, Zakahril believed that "his Nikaeans" would not dare harm him...and like Heydrich, he would pay the price for his complacency. After the planet was liberated, they would go into hiding, making the Gorak'nar believe their people had gone extinct - with their slaves gone, the Gorak'nar would leave Nikaea to the elements; the Nikaeans would emerge only after they were absolutely certain the Gorak'nar were gone. Through diplomacy, charismatic persuasion and the occasional ritual duel to the death, Kerazaddon united the tribes to impliment his plan. By 2068 BC, Kerazaddon had created a grand force of war machines he called the Watcher's Arsenal, mostly based on the same chassis - the Watcher's Wrath, a corps of heavily-armed walker vehicles; the Watcher's Fury, the same weapons on a sea-going chassis; the Watcher's Lightning, from the air; and the Watcher's Word, a variant of the Watcher's Wrath that was intended to spread the word of the Eternal Watcher to the troops. The following year, he launched his attack from the forefront, riding at the controls of a Watcher's Wrath as the tribes broke through the gates of Gorak'gaenei. In a barely-controlled fury, Kerazaddon and his honor guard strode into the citadel and entered the Battlelord's throne room. Legend has it that Kerazaddon picked up the Gorak'nar Battlelord by the appendages on his chin and tossed him across the room like a sack of grain, shouting a challenge to the "spineless slaver" to meet him in single combat. Using only his own natural defenses, Kerazaddon tore Zakahril's head off with his bare hands and held it from the balcony of his citadel as a trophy. With the Gorak'nar forces defeated, Kerazaddon initiated the second phase of his plan - by the time Emperor Jaeden'laek IV (Jaeden'laek the Great) arrived on Nikaea to survey the carnage, there was no sign of any living Nikaean on the planet's surface. Believing something to have happened to the Nikaeans that could also happen to his own people, the Emperor marked it a forbidden world and left; no Gorak'nar would set foot on its surface again for another five millennia. The Restoration of Nikaea With the Gorak'nar gone, the tribes celebrated their victory over their hated slavers and freely developed their own machines, cities and other amenities with the technology they had stolen from the Gorak'nar. Eventually, they believed the Gorak'nar to have forgotten them; in 1621 BC, they launched their first interstellar spacecraft, Nikaea One and colonized the other planets of the Prora system and eventually explored beyond it. In 6 AD, they encountered the Khyradorians, a race of creatures with four arms, four legs, long necks and bird-like heads, and they became fast friends. In 71 AD, they encountered the Sergorath - a race of highly telepathic insectoid pacifists that also lived in tribes, or hives as they called them. The three races have kept in contact for over two millennia since. Under the seemingly ageless Kerazaddon, who had ruled Nikaea since he was named High Patriarch, Nikaea and her colonies prospered. The Nikaeans eventually grew complacent, save for Kerazaddon himself, who was blessed - and cursed - with the gift of foresight. He knew that the Gorak'nar would return, and when they did, the Nikaean people would pay dearly. The Gorak'nar's Revenge and the Rise of the Empire In 2380, the Gorak'nar Imperium was approached by a powerful man who had cheated death more times than anyone else. His name was Artimus Devaneaux... Artimus had been killed and reborn more times than he could count in many different dimensions, but this time he was playing for keeps. Resurrected by the Black Shar'vore patriarch, Eldoran Saberclaw, Artimus journeyed to Gorak'nar to rally them under his standard. He did so for two reasons: One, to begin a war of conquest where the Black Shar'vore would arise dominant over their White Shar'vore brethren, and two, revenge against his old master, Kiran Joshmaul. Artimus appeared before Emperor Jaeden'laek XVI, the man who had murdered Po'gaenus to prevent him from destabilizing the Imperium. Promising to make Gorak'nar great again, Artimus swayed Jaeden'laek and his people to follow him. In return, all Jaeden'laek asked for was to make their first step at Nikaea. Artimus, sensing Shar'vore influence, readily agreed. The Gorak'nar returned to Nikaea with a vengeance. Kerazaddon stood at the fortress at the gates of Nikaeapolis, defiant against Artimus and his hordes. Artimus had attempted to beguile Kerazaddon into following him, but the Uniter refused. In response, Artimus left Kerazaddon as a bloody smear on the ground with a mere flick of his wrist, and sent the Gorak'nar hordes to slay any living Nikaean they could find. They wiped out 99% of the population in a matter of days, leaving the ten cities in ruins. Kerazaddon's heir-apparent, Smeavian, became High Patriarch of a much weakened Nikaea. Seeking to avenge his mentor and his people, Smeavian turned to his people's ancient allies, the Sergorath and the Khyradorians. Of the three allied races, only the Sergorath had been able to escape the Gorak'nar; Khyrador was conquered not long after the fall of Nikaea. Smeavian joined Hive Mindlord Hch'tshh of Sergoratha in his effort to claim their planet; the Sergorath were influenced by the cult of the Eternal Watcher, and believed that if they maintained their oaths of friendship with the Nikaeans, the Watcher would guide the Sergorath too. The Khyradorians, under Matriarch Tolesakad, were not nearly as pious as the Sergorath, but they too decided to honor their alliance with Nikaea. With a solution in hand, the three races met and declared that they would form a new empire under the banner of the Spiritclaw tribe, the tribe of the martyred Kerazaddon. Thus was born the Empire of Nikaea - a nation that sought to replace the Gorak'nar Imperium as the dominant superpower of the eastern galactic frontier. In order to solidify their position, however, the new Emperor Smeavian realized that they needed allies. First came the Order of Po'gaenus, a group of Gorak'nar renegades who had broken from Jaeden'laek and Artimus at the cost of their lives. Po'gaenus, having ascended to become Shar'vore after his death, was considered a brother of the Eternal Watcher. They also realized that they needed the aid of the last remaining superpower of the southern quadrants after the wars that had crippled the others. To that end, Tolesakad - the infant Empire's chief diplomat - was sent along with Velenkayn across the frontier and into the galactic political center...the United Federation of Planets. Category:RPG Category:Star Trek